It's all a lie...
The Turning Feral Journal - Day 18
Day 19- Yesterday while I was in the “big city” of Boise, I saw all of the normal comings and goings of modern life. Restaurants packed, people bustling around, and loads of logistics trucks traveling from neighborhood to neighborhood. But, what stood out to me was one particular Amazon truck. Stopping at three homes in a row, I watched a driver unload armfuls of packages until the truck got close enough for me to see the new inscription that it had on its side “Caution: Contents may cause happiness.”
Wow.
It’s funny that a campaign to surely help “relate” to people and bring higher CSAT scores could encapsulate so well the negative place I feel we are at as a nation. This slow march toward consumerism being the end-all route to happiness. Is this what we teach our kids now? That the root of happiness is an amazon truck full of marginally well produced goods?
Now don’t get me wrong, hypocrisy does exist here... I enjoy the benefits of Amazon. I can order trapping supplies, last minute camping equipment, waders for the kids, and even sell my book. Then when things shows up at my door, I am happy. But, it is short-lived and surely not the root of my happiness.
My fear of this simple campaign is the normalization around where our kids and families believe they find happiness. My belief is that happiness comes from time outdoors, time with family, and time pushing oneself beyond ones limits. So, maybe a more accurate campaign for Amazon would be “Warning: Contents may cause fleeting happiness.”
Daily Prompt: What daily activities or services provide you fleeting happiness? What would happen if they were no longer available tomorrow? Think about this deeply and reflect on your own dependence on certain modern services, here:
Motivational Passage:
“Happiness comes from within. To be happy is to know oneself. It's not in the material things that we own, it's the love we have and show to the world.”
― Angie Karan
Rewilding Action: Winter is coming! This means winter driving conditions are nye. To prep, this past week I went and bought a new set of chains for my truck and put them all on to stretch while poking around some icy patches in the back country. Now, I recognize not everyone reading this journal will need heavy chains or even studded snow tires each winter, but if you do – go get them and practice putting them on. If you don’t need that level of winter protection, you should still consider building out a winter safety bag for your car. Think about all of the things you may need if your car broke down in a cold area… a blanket, fire starter kit, small amounts of food, water, etc… Prepare now for what may come tomorrow!